Effect of Physical Activity During Pregnancy on Birth Outcomes in Mothers Presenting at the Antenatal Clinic of De Soysa Maternity Hospital, Colombo 08

According to national recommendations women should be physically active during pregnancy. The relation between physical activity during gestation and pregnancy outcomes in Sri Lankan women is poorly understood. The present study assessed whether, in a general obstetric population, prenatal physical activity affects birth outcomes. A cohort of 78 pregnant mothers was carried out from mean gestational age of 217 days, until the time of delivery. 18 to 35 age, singleton, primigravid pregnancies, were randomly assigned from the prenatal outpatient care at De Soysa Maternity Hospital, Colombo 08. Physical activity level was determined using an interviewer administrated questionnaire. Gestational age, infant birth weight, labor pain, mode of delivery and duration of labor were adopted as outcome criteria. Chi Square Test was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 17.0 version. The occurrence of emergency caesarean delivery was significantly related to the prenatal physical activity level. (p = 0.015).Mildly active women were observed to have a greater risk.All other outcomes assessed were statistically unrelated to the level of physical activity in gestation. In light of the obtained results, physical activity during pregnancy does not appear to significantly influence the birth outcomes, except in terms of mode of delivery.

Keywords: Low birth weight, Physical activity, Preterm births